1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine intended to be used for stripping sections of insulation from conducting wire. In particular, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for cutting away the insulating envelope, sleeve or covering in which the wire conductor is embedded, without severing or otherwise damaging the conductor, and also disengaging a section of the conductor corresponding to that part of the insulating sleeve cut away.
2. Discussion of Background and Material Information
Conventionally, conducting wires are composed of a core made of electrically conducting material, which is preferably copper, and a sleeve or cover of insulation material, preferably made of a polymer material, such as plastic or rubber, which exhibits certain flexibility and elasticity.
In order to strip a section of insulation from the wire, the sleeve of insulation material is normally severed, and then the sectioned part of the sleeve is pushed to slide the portion of the cover or sleeve along the core to expose the conducting material. If a section of insulation is to be stripped from an end or extremity of a conducting wire, the end portion of the sleeve which is cut is slid towards the free end of the wire. On the other hand, if an intermediate portion of the cover of the wire is to be stripped, the elasticity and flexibility of the sleeve comes into play because portions of the sleeve on either side of the incision are slid away from each other towards the respective ends of the wire.
Machines for accomplishing such cuts are well known and are used extensively in the production of electrical wiring systems for automobiles, aircraft and the like. In the manufacture of such wiring systems, conducting wires of differing sizes, particularly in cross section, must necessarily be used, particularly in the manufacture of the wiring harness. Consequently, the machine tool used to strip and cut wiring normally has to be changed for each change in the thickness or profile of the conductor, a process that is both complicated, time consuming and inefficient.